Today is the first day of the A to Z challenge and it’s been forever since I’ve taken the time to write a post on this blog. Mainly because up until now I was not accepting who I am. It’s been a long journey to get to this point.

Denial

Two years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes… along with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and acid reflux. At first I jumped all over this and was working out, completely cut sugar out of my diet. Within the first month of being diagnosed I dropped my A1C down to 6% (from over 8%), dropped my cholesterol and lost 12 pounds. I was doing great! Then something happened. If I could tell you I would, but I don’t know. I went back to my sugar addicted life and that is where I have been. I came to a point that I was denying the fact that I had diabetes. I still took my medication on a daily basis, but I stopped monitoring my sugar levels. Dangerous and deadly I know.

Acceptance

The fact is, I love to eat. But living with diabetes you can still love foods, you just may have to do it in a different way. I know having Type 2 gives me the ability to change my health, this is reversible. I am Healthy Latina Living!

Challenge

I love to find new recipes and probably like a lot of you I just LOVE Pinterest. So for the next 30 days I am embracing my love of Pinterest. My A to Z challenge will be that of finding new and exciting recipes that are easy to make, nutritious and yummy.

In addition I invite you to join and follow me for my 30 minutes for 30 days. What is this? Being active 30 minutes a day for 30 days, yes creating a healthy habit of exercise.

I have a sugar addiction and I am a Type 2 diabetic. Yup I said it, a few months back I wrote about my struggles and the fact that I didn’t know if I could really change my ways. The truth is I lived on sugar even though I “thought” I was eating healthy, I really wasn’t.

Change in Meals & Reading Labels

Case in point my breakfast. Greek yogurt, frozen berries and a little granola. Sounds great right? Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Why? Basically I wasn’t reading the labels and I was eating way to much sugar!! Especially from the yogurt, no wonder it tasted so good. When I discovered the yummy taste of yogurt and berries with my old yogurt, I went absolutely crazy. Since I hadn’t read the labels I really had no idea what I was eating, all I thought was, ‘Hey I’m eating healthy, it’s Greek Yogurt!’ Boy was I wrong. Eating a cup a day all of a sudden made a big impact on my weight, at least that was what the scale was telling me, but it didn’t hit me why the numbers kept going up.

Label comparison of two national brand Greek Yogurts.

Sugar Cravings

It seems like I have lived a life of craving sugar non-stop. But the sad fact was that I was not listening to what my body was trying to tell me and that was I needed water. In some ways I kind of already new this, but like any drug, I would reach for something sweet instead. If I think of it that way it sounds kind of scary. My drug of choice has been sugar, and like any addict I have been choosing my drug of choice over my own health.

photo credit: Adobe Stock Photos / dulsita

The Price of Addiction

Like any addiction there is a price to pay, either for your fix or your health. In my case I had a big wake up call a few weeks ago when I went to the pharmacy. Even with great health insurance, my total came out to be over $180! Is that just crazy? I’m 45 years old, what the heck is wrong with this picture? And at this age why am I taking a high blood pressure and high cholesterol medication in addition to the diabetes meds?

I feel that I am falling into the system of western medicine. It’s easy to treat diseases by giving medication. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my doctor. But the simple fact is that with medicine the way it is in the United States today, it’s easier to write a prescription than treat the underlying cause of the problem. My underlying cause is my sugar addiction. See that picture above? That is my weakness. Even writing this and looking that picture is almost unbearable, I just absolutely love buttercream frosting. But I know the additional price I will pay from my sugar addiction will be my life being cut short. Which I don’t intend on happening! My great-great-grandmother was 103 when she died, my great-grandmother 101, my grandma was 94, and my mother is a healthy 78. If you met my mom, you wouldn’t believe she is as old as she is… she looks great.

photo credit: Adobe Stock Photos / ZIQUIU

Recovery

I’ve finally decided that a change is at hand. I need to change my habits, my lifestyle and take control of my eating. I need to come to the understanding that sugar is the enemy, not the comforting friend that I have always thought it to be. It is I alone that can change my ways, and it is because I love myself too much not to make this change. I have started on my journey, and I hope you join me… there is a great big world out there and I am determined to become healthy and experience all that it has to offer.

I really started this blog to help motivate myself to lose weight, but that hasn’t been happening. Why is it that we lie to ourselves? I am diabetic and I haven’t been taking care of myself as I should. I like to think in my mind that I am taking care of myself, but who’s joking who? I am not. Instead I feel as if I’m on a course of self-destruction.

So how do I break this course of self-destruction? I have heart disease that runs in my family, so that combined with the diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, I need to change and it needs to be now.

I really thought that joining weight watchers would make me accountable, but it hasn’t. The first few weeks I lost weight, but now I”m back to where I started, so I quit. I also thought that the A to Z Challenge way back in April was going to help and inspire me, but in actuality it ended up causing me more stress, not to mention an allergic reaction I had to one of my own recipes! Why I sometimes forget I’m allergic to milk is beyond me!!

A couple of months ago I bought a new pair of running shoes. I have used them once. There was a time when running 3 miles was an everyday sort of thing… now I can’t run a block. So why did I spend $150 for a pair of shoes I’m not using? I really hate wasting money.

So where do I go from here? Actually I am not too sure.

I often wonder what will it take to motivate me to become healthy. If only I could take care of myself the way I take care of my dogs… now that would be something.

I believe that being healthy is all about making choices. I am also a strong believer in hamburgers, fries and all that is pie, preferably cherry! But like everything in life, moderation is key. And though I try to eat grass-fed this, free-range that, and non-gmo veggies and fruits, I do like and have a taste for good ol’ Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage…. I know, I know. Now before I discover Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage I was not a huge fan of sausage, heck I’m not a huge fan of pork in general.

I was surprised to find out recently that button mushrooms (white) and cremini(small brown) are in dead immature strains of a Portobello. I personally try to use mushrooms several times per week, as you know I have a love of pasta with the yummy Mushroom Farfalle. But this week I am sharing you a very quick and easy stuffed mushroom.

In our house you either love them or hate them. Well, actually I think we all love them. And we are fortunate enough that we have a tree to give us a ton of them! Since we live in the San Joaquin Valley, and the way the weather has been for the past couple of years that means we have a few crops all year round! Even though I like lemons I have to be very careful making lemonade as not to burn the lining of my stomach off… but since lemons are so good for you, I just can’t help myself sometimes. I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes for a yummy summertime lemonade and the benefits of lemons.

Home grown Organic Lemons

Benefits of Lemons

Lemons help cure issues related to indigestion and constipation .

Eases the pain of sunburns.

Lemon juice can help with colds and fever by causing the body to increase perspiration.

Lemon juice can give hair a great shine including reducing the amount of dandruff.

Lastly, and most importantly, lemon can help reduce weight when combined with warm water and honey. since lemons are jam-packed with Vitamin C, it is able to increase liver function and increase metabolism.

Squeezed juice from approximately 4 large lemons, will yield 1 cup juice, set aside.

Combine Honey & 1 cup warm water in saucepan and bring to a boil.

Once Honey and water are cooled, pour into pitcher, adding lemon juice and cool water.

Chill 1-2 hours or serve over ice.

Notes

Tip: Depending on the honey you use, it can have a very powerful taste. If you have a cold, I would recommend using 1/2 cups honey. The lemonade will have a very honey taste, but you will still be able to taste the lemonade.

Note: This is a very strong lemonade mixture, if you are not used to drinking real, pure lemonade, add 6 cups of water instead of 4, as the acidity may be too hard on your stomach.

If you are reading this blog, then you probably already know that kale is a wonderful leafy green that is very nutrient dense. If you don’t, then you’ve probably seen it raw in salads and in smoothies. But did you know that you can whip up a tasty kale side dish in just 10 minutes that is not only nutritious but tasty!?!

Filled with over 45 flavinoids, this rich anti-oxidant leafy green makes a quick, easy and yummy side dish! With 3 g of protein per cup and only 33 calories, this is a great addition to any healthy diet!

I just love adding a little kick to my meals. I don’t know if that is the Latina in me, or just the fact I like things spicy! Before I get to far into this post though, I need to make one little confession. I am not the biggest fan of jalapenos. There I said it, I would much rather prefer a Fresno chili than a jalepeno. But everyone else in my household just loves the jalapeno.

So this little pepper is loved so much that we have a sweet little one (term of endearment) that is out by the pool! We planted her last year, and bless her little green leaves, we think she will produce more peppers this summer. I’ve named this plant Juanita the Jalapeno!

Today is all about me, myself and I so if you have been following Healthy Latina for the previous 8 days, you know we have been discussing benefits of different food and I have shared a few of my favorite recipes. But keeping with our theme “It Does a Body Good”, I wanted to talk about “I”.
I am worth taking care of myself, I need to think of my needs first. If I don’t, then I can not be healthy to take care or be there for anyone else
I know it may be hard to put yourself first as a woman, with jobs, kids (2 & 4 legged), husbands or wives (yes women have wives), parents, the list can go one. But there are a lot of people who depend on us.

So if you need to lose weight, need to stop smoking, need to start eating healthy, make it a point to start today. Put yourself first, even if it requires you to wake up 30 minutes earlier to start that new mediation routine, or walking that 2 miles in the morning. Start today what you’ve been putting off to making you feel better
Remember it’s all about Me, Myself & I!

Today we continue our participation in the 2015 A to Z Challenge! Today we celebrated the letter ‘I’.

Do you know that raw honey and the honey you buy at the store are completely different? Of course the main difference is that the honey purchased on the store shelf has been pasteurized. You may be asking, “Well what’s wrong with that? Milk is pasteurized too.”

Unfortunately for honey and your health pasteurization is a very bad thing. The pasteurization process destroys vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and other nutrients through the high heating process. At this point the honey becomes just as pad as refined sugar.

So what makes raw honey so great?

Healthy Benefits

Raw Honeyhas anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties.

Blood Sugar Even though honey is a simple sugar, it actually has the right amount of fructose and glucose that helps regulate sugar levels.

ProbioticSome honey have large amounts of friendly bacteria including several species of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

Cancer Prevention It’s possible with the flavonoids and anti-oxidants that honey contains it can help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

Today we are happy to be participating in the 2015 A to Z Challenge. Today we are celebrating the letter “H”!

I wish I could tell you that I have loved garlic all my life, but seriously I don’t think I really began my love affair with food until about 10 years ago. When your first date with your husband takes place at a sushi joint, and you have your dinner reception at Mesa Grill… well it starts to set precedence of a second relationship with food. A relationship that caused me to gain 38 pounds after my reception. Even though I am currently taking a journey with Weight Watchers, there are herbs and spices that can make the most bland tasting foods into a fiesta in your mouth. One of those herbs capable of that is Garlic!

Garlic has been used for thousands of years in both culinary and theraputic uses.

5 Benefits of Garlic

People who eat garlic at least 2x/week have a 44% lower risk of developing lung cancer.